Petition campaign launched to stop repression in East Turkistan

Kayseri Ülkü Ocakları members hold an event in support of East Turkestan. (Photo: DHA)

June 29, 2015, Monday/ 18:32:24/ TODAY'S ZAMAN / ANKARA

A petition has been launched on www.change.org by prominent writer Mehmet Efe as a call upon China and the international community to stop what it calls China's “apartheid-style” rule in East Turkistan, officially known as the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

The petition, which has thus far gathered more 18,000 signatures, is addressed to China's President Xi Jinping, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and People's Republic of China (PRC).

The petition said China's current policies include cultural "genocide" against Uighur identity, culture, religious beliefs and practices as well as extrajudicial and indiscriminate killings of Uighur men, women and children by soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

"The Uighurs feel powerless to defend their historic homeland, their way of life, identity, culture, language and religion from Beijing's ever-intensifying onslaught and Chinese settlers appropriating everything that once belonged rightfully to them," the petition said.

Actors, academics and politicians in Turkey also raised their voices on Sunday to criticize the Chinese government and called for freedom in the East Turkistan after 28 people were killed in during the holy month of Ramadan.

According to a report in Aktüel magazine on Thursday, the killings in East Turkistan took place after a car failed to stop at a checkpoint. Two police officers reportedly followed and stopped the car and were fatally stabbed by the occupants of the vehicle. Then backup police officers came and began shooting suspects on sight, killing a total of 28 people.
 
“Free East Turkistan” serves both as the slogan of the petition and the hashtag created on Twitter in order to spread the news of the petition.

The petition referred to the historical events that took place in East Turkistan, emphasizing the maltreatment of China to the people in the region. It is stated in the petition, under the headline  “Ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide,” that China tested 45 nuclear devices, both under and above ground, between 1964 and 1996 in East Turkistan, polluting air, water and land, slowly killing both people and livestock with radiation.

Other examples of China's mistreatment of Uighurs were also mentioned. It is indicated that the Uighur (Uyghur) Alphabet was changed 4 times since China's current government assumed control of the region. Currently Uighurs in government jobs, members of Communist Party, workers, retirees, women and students are forbidden from fasting and worship in Mosques. Moreover, children attending any religious education are arrested.

Statistics in the petition suggest that the number of Uighurs killed by Chinese forces is reportedly more than the death-toll reported in Palestine, Iraq and Syria, combined.

It is underlined in the petition that all political, military, police and economic decision-making powers are in the hands of Chinese officials and a few figureheads, including the regional chairman.

The petition also serves as a warning to other nations, who have turned a blind eye to China's policies of repression of the Turkic and Muslim Uighur people of East Turkistan, out of a desire to invest in China's markets.

The petition called upon China and the international community to "stop the rule of Apartheid in East Turkistan." "China must start treating Uighurs with equality, respecting their human rights to life and freedom of religion; honoring China's constitution in respect to Regional Ethnic Autonomy Laws; and start allowing the Uighur people self-determination to pursue their own political, cultural and economical future," it said.